After Comey’s testimony last week, House and Senate investigators asked the White House to provide any record of conversations between Trump and Comey.

Sessions in March removed himself from involvement in any probe into alleged Russian election meddling but maintained he did nothing wrong by failing to disclose that he met past year with Russia’s ambassador.

In early March, The Washington Post reported that Sessions twice met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the campaign and did not disclose that to the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearing in January. Senators from both sides want to know why Sessions was involved in the Federal Bureau of Investigation director’s firing.

A Justice Department spokeswoman said Sessions requested the open setting because “he believes it is important for the American people to hear the truth directly from him”.

Burr’s announcement followed speculation that Sessions may not testify in an open session. “I think it’s a reasonable question”.

Since then, the possible existence of audio recordings of Oval Office conversations have been a topic of conversation among many on Capitol Hill.

Sessions will therefore have to walk a tightrope to both satisfy his boss, Donald Trump, and remove the political target on his back.

The White House did not immediately respond to questions about Ruddy’s claims.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein will replace Sessions at the appropriations committees’ hearing Tuesday. The Kushner meetings would likely have been discussed within Trump’s inner circle.

Last week, ABC News learned that Sessions suggested he vacate his position given his declining relationship with Trump after his recusal decision, about which Trump was given little notice.

“[Sources] are telling me Trump has been very angry with Jeff Sessions for recusing himself in the Russian Federation investigation to begin with, lots of profane conversations and yelling”. And, if so, do Trump and the White House have to hand them over? Comey spoke of receiving pressure from President Donald Trump to drop a probe into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s contacts with Russian Federation.

Schumer invited Trump to testify under oath before the Senate. It ruled based on immigration law, not the Constitution. And what would it say if the president were to direct the firing of Mueller at any point in the course of this investigation?

Much of the case is focused on allegations that Trump’s real estate and business holdings violate a little-known emoluments clause of the Constitution. He was a foreign policy adviser during the campaign and in the running to be vice president. “We can not treat the president’s ongoing violations of the Constitution and his disregard of the rights of the American people as the new acceptable status quo”. The attorney general, of course, was a deeply loyal Trump supporter long before any of his Senate colleagues took the billionaire Republican seriously. Legal news – a new lawsuit against the president by the governments in D.C. and Maryland.

Trump asked Sessions, along with other members of the Trump administration, to leave him and Comey alone after a counter-terrorism briefing February 14, one day after national security adviser Michael Flynn was sacked.

Mr. Trump said Friday that he would announce soon whether there are tapes.

“The Nixon example itself teaches us that executive privilege can be overcome, especially when the relevant information is potentially material for an ongoing criminal investigation”, Vladeck said.